Adductes Tenebris Ex Lux In Profundum
by Lo613
Summary: Or, 'Bringing Light Into the Depths of Darkness'. After 'Journey's End' the Doctor becomes a bit...different. Four years later, he shows up Torchwood, in the midst of an alien invasion. Of course. Dark!Doctor story . Rated for language, violence, and dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is the story that I mentioned I was working on in my A/N to 'Shattered'. In case you didn't read the summary for some inexplicable reason, this story is quite dark. You've been warned. Also, this is a bit AU as in 'Exit Wounds' and 'Dead Man Walking' never happened, so both Owen and Toshiko are alive and well, alongside the fact that any episodes after 'Journey's End' never occured. Anywho, moving on from all that stuff, enjoy the story! Disclaimer- Do I own two multimillion dollar TV shows? I'm afraid the answer is no.**

* * *

_In Which Own is the King of More Than Just Weevils, Jack Becomes Really and Truly Shaken, and Martha Demands to Know Just What Is Going On._

**~oOo~**

The squeaks of tennis shoes on the concrete floor or Torchwood's makeshift basketball court came to a stop as Owen, who was currently in possession of the ball, halted to a stop. Jack, who was guarding the medical doctor followed suite. The other three players- Gwen and Ianto on Jack's team, Toshiko and Martha (Who had been called to Cardiff for an investigation, dicing to stay the night after it ha been discovered that the case was a false alarm), on Owen's- hung around the outer edges of the court, waiting for one of the men in the middle to make their move.

Owen quickly feinted a pass, fooling Jack into blocking one way, and then threw the ball to Toshiko. Tosh caught the ball and eyed the basket, probably calculating the 18 different approaches she could take, and then shot the ball, the orange sphere passing cleanly through the net, giving a quiet _whoosh_ as it went through. Jack grabbed the ball as it fell back to the ground, and glared at Owen sullenly.

"That makes it, oh, what is it, Martha? 17-2?" Owen asked, in a manner that wasn't si much questioning as it was making a statement; his voice confident, almost arrogant. Jack gave a sigh.

"Yes, Owen. I admit it. You are the undisputed king of Torchwood basketball." The Ex-Time Agent conceded, and edge of mockery working its way into his tone. He turned to the other members of his team. "What d'you say?" He glanced at his wristwatch. "It's 11:30. Should we give up?"

Gwen gave a slight yawn and nodded.

"Might as well."

"Why not?" Ianto agreed.

"Right then." Said Jack, addressing the group of five that stood in front of him. "YOu should all be getting home, I suppose. Are you going to be here tomorrow, Martha?" He questioned.

"I'll go ahead and stay around, yeah." Martha answered.

"Have you got a place to sleep?"

Martha shook her head and Jack turned to Ianto.

"Ianto...?"

Ianto nodded.

"You can stay with me if you'd like, Ms. Jones." He offered. Ianto Jones, ever the professional.

"Thanks, Ianto." Martha said warmly.

"Mind if I crash at your place tonight?" Jack asked. "Haven't slept for a few days and I'm dead tired."

Ianto rolled his eyes some.

"Yes_,_ _Sir." _He replied, somewhat sarcastically. "Come right along."

Jack gave his trademark flirty grin and started towards the exit of the Hub.

"Alright. The rest of you can all go home, and I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose." Jack dismissed, walking out of the room. The rest of the Torchwood team looked at each other for a short moment, then grabbed their things before removing themselves from their base, following Jack's lead and shutting off the lights, then each one of them heading their own separate ways.

**~oOo~**

Jack opened his eyes and glanced around at his surroundings. Where was he? Oh, yes, Ianto's flat, with Martha as well.

He rolled off the couch he had spent the night on and looked out the window. Still dark. The Immortal estimated the time to be about five or six in the morning. It made sense to him, seeing as how he usually didn't sleep at all, and when he did, he still required less sleep than most other humans.

He wandered around Ianto's flat, navigating through it with expertise even in the dark, a skill acquired over the many hours he had accumulated here. He reached the kitchen and searched around for a few moments, finding a piece of paper and a pen. Jack scribbled a note for Ianto and Martha, letting them know that he was heading back to the Hub. Leaving the note at a visible spot, JAck grabbed his coat and started walking.

Jack walked the cold streets of Cardiff, making his way back to the Hub, thinking as he went along. He vaguely wondered what the day might hold. It could be anything; Weevils, other alien invasions, hoards of paperwork, anything at all. Or maybe there wouldn't be much to do today. Maybe the team would finally get a day off.

The Captain laughed.

After a good while of walking, no less than forty-five minutes, he arrived at the back entrance of Torchwood, letting himself in and working his way through the concrete hallways, rolling the metal door open, and entering the Hub. He flipped on the lights, making towards the center of the room, glancing around, and-

Jack froze.

_What._

The TARDIS. The big-little, impossibly blue box resided smack in the middle of the Hub. Jack wondered briefly if it had been accidentally parked there, or if its pilot's landing skills had improved. With a start, Jack remembered.

The pilot.

If the TARDIS was here, then that meant-

"Doctor?!" Jack called, hungrily searching around. "Doctor?!" He called again, an edge of anxiousness working its way into his voice.

"Harkness?!" Rang a voice from the opposite side of the Torchwood compound.

The Doctor's voice.

The Time Lord appeared suddenly, popping out from behind a group of Toshiko's computers. His eyes flashed to Jack, examining the other man through his black framed glasses. After a brief second, he began walking towards Jack, stopping once he was in front of the Ex-Time Agent.

"Didn't expect you here at this time." He said, voice oddly detached as he continued his inspection.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really expect to see _you_ here, Doc."

The Doctor stiffened slightly at the old nickname, but said nothing.

"...So. Questions. First off, why are you here? Second, what's with your...You?" Jack asked, both eyeing the Doctor and motioning to him.

The Doctor was dressed in his usual attire; His long brown trench coat, and blue pinstriped suit, paired with red Converse.

But...Something was off about him. His eyes were darting round the Hub, and when he glanced at Jack, they were full of distrust. His clothes seemed less taken care of than normal; dirty, rumpled, and singed at the edges.

And...if Jack wasn't mistaken (He almost hoped he was), the Doctor's suit was stained, rather heavily in places, with what looked suspiciously like blood. Jack glanced at the Time Lord's hands quickly. They were tainted slightly red, and if Jack looked very closely, there was blood caked underneath his fingernails.

Jack looked back up, meeting the Doctor's steely gaze.

"Really. What happened? Why have you got all this blood on you?" A look of concern overtook Jack's features, working itself into his next words. "Are you alright, Doc?"

"Don't call me that!" The Doctor snapped, glaring at Jack.

Jack flinched at the Doctor's sudden outburst. What was going on here?! The Time Lord loved it when Jack called him Doc, why the sudden aversion? Why was he so blood stained?

What had happened to him?

"Alright then. Fine. I won't call you that. Is Doctor still fine?"

The Doctor nodded stiffly.

"Okay. Why are you here?" Jack questioned, somewhat cautiously.

The Doctor shrugged. shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

"TARDIS brought me here. Not a bloody clue why. Got on your computers to check the Rift, and nothing's going on. But she still won't open up." He replied.

"Well, that explains that." Jack said. "I still want to know what's happened to you though."

"It's irrelevant, Harkness." The Doctor responded, his tone matching his cold facial expressions, voice closer to a growl than not. Jack scoffed.

"Not really, no. It's completely relevent. My friend is covered in blood, I want to know why. Go ahead and spill it."

"I'm not your frien-" The Doctor cut himself off, shaking his head. "Leave it, Harkness." He said quietly, a dangerous edge to his voice. The Immortal gave a disbelieving stare that quickly morphed into confusion.

"...Why are you calling me '_Harkness'? _You never do that."

"Well, I am now, aren't I?" Said the Doctor, a bit too sarcastically to be considered friendly. "Deal with it."

Jack cocked his head to the side slightly.

"Where are we at? Have you done the Master yet?" He asked. The Doctor nodded. "Daleks and Davros?"

Another nod.

"Four years ago." The Time Lord answered.

"Have you got a companion?" Jack asked, trying to ignore the growing uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.

Was he really being _this_ intimidated by the man in front of him? The Doctor was still ridiculously skinny, more so than he had been last time they met if Jack's suspicions were correct; It wasn't as if the Doctor presented a physical threat to him, but still...The blood, the cold tones and words, the unsettling look in the Doctor's eyes...

"No."

The Doctor's voice was enough to distract Jack from his train of thought. The Time Lord gave a bitter laugh.

"No more companions. Never again."

Jack arched an eyebrow.

"None? In four years? Blimey."

The Doctor shrugged, indifferent.

"It's better this way."

"You'll find somebody." Said Jack.

"I don't want to find somebody!" The Doctor flared. "Humanity can go top themselves for all I care! They'd be doing me a hell of a favour!"

At this, Jack's mouth actually gaped open slightly.

"...You don't mean that." He said. Hoped.

The Doctor smirked.

"Don't I?" He replied, tainting Jack's hopes with doubt.

"...I don't think that you mean it." The Captain took a step towards the Doctor. "You care way too much about our race to mean that. I know that you've done way too much for us to mean that."

The Doctor blinked once before replying, his words slow and deliberate.

"You have no idea what I've done, Harkness. _No. Idea. _I make Daleks look like bloody saints."

Jack swallowed hard as he studied the Doctor's stony features.

"What could you have possibly done to say _that?" _The Immortal asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I've killed, Harkness. Killed, destroyed, abandoned people, _planets,_ whose only hopes were me helping them." The Time Lord took one step closer. "_Enjoyed it."_

And just like that, Jack was scared. The unshakable, infallible, fearless, Captain Jack Harkness was scared, downright bloody terrified.

Suddenly, the rust colored stains covering the Doctor were much more intimidating than they had previously been.

"...Why is there so much blood on you, Doc?" He asked, forcing the tremor that wanted to be there out of his voice.

"Doctor." The Time Lord reminded him, his tone hard. Jack shook his head.

"...What's happened to you?" He asked, voice just above a hoarse whisper. The Doctor smirked.

"Four years, Harkness. Four years happened." He retorted.

"No way you've changed this much in four years." Jack denied, not wanting to believe what he was hearing for even a second.

"There was only so much I could take!" The Doctor snapped, flaring unexpectantly. "Even I can only take so much! When she left, I lost it! 900 years, I had a lot of hate and anger already built up! And when she left, that was it! I was done!"

"She is..."Jack inquired, wanting, _needing, _for the Doctor to say her name, maybe confirm that there was still the smallest bit of himself that he wasn't willing to show.

"Donna." The Doctor spat.

Jack gave a slight snort of disbelief and the Doctor shot him a curious (Though possibly deadly) glance.

"What?"

"So, after Donna, you basically decided that the universe could go screw itself?"

"Why should I be the one who has to save it? Every time?!"

"Because you're the only one who _can_ save it every time!" Jack argued. The Time Lord glared at Jack, then turned away, walking towards the TARDIS. He grabbed his key out of his pockets and tried to open the ship's doors, his attempt bringing forth no success. He swore under his breath and spun around to Jack.

"Why did she bring me here?!" He demanded to know. "She brought me here, no reason as far as I can tell, and now she won't let me in! Tell me what's going on, Harkness!" He paused for a moment, thinking. "You brought me here, didn't you?!" The Time Lord accused, trembling with anger. "The TARDIS brought me here and now she won't let me leave! What the hell have you done to her?!"

Jack set his jaw, standing up straighter.

"We had nothing to do with this, Doctor." He defended heatedly. _"Nothing" _

"Then why. Can't. I. Leave." The Doctor growled, his teeth clenched, eyes brooding.

"Maybe the TARDIS doesn't want you to leave!" Jack exclaimed. "Maybe she wants you to stay here! Have you even _considered_ that?!"

The Doctor chuckled humorously.

"Why would she do that, Harkness? What purpose would it serve?!"

"_Maybe_, and this is just a thought, mind you, but _maybe, _she thought you needed some downtime? You know, maybe she brought you here to rest up some? Maybe she wants us to help you."

Another laugh, louder this time; Sharper, more manic too.

"What gives you the idea that I need your help?" He asked breathlessly.

Jack buried his face in his hands for a moment before re-emerging.

"Look. Either way, you're stuck here. No way out. You've not got much choice other than to stay here until she lets you in, so you're probably going to be staying here a while."

The Doctor said nothing, though the look on his face made it clear that gears were turning in his head, trying to think of a way out of the situation.

"...This is bullshit." He muttered. Jack shrugged sadly.

"Maybe so, but it's what's happening.

The Time Lord stared at the ground, hard.

"What am I supposed to do with myself?" He asked, glaring directly at Jack for answers.

"You could always help us with the Rift."

The Doctor stiffened again.

"I don't do that anymore, Harkness! What part of that don't you understand?! I don't help people anymore!" He said, his voice raising with each word he spoke.

The Immortal stared incredulously and began to open his mouth to respond, how he didn't know, when the door to the Hub, revealing Ianto and Martha.

Ianto, seeing a strange man conversing with Jack, a possibly hostile, unfamiliar one at that, reached for his gun holster purely from instinct. He drew it and aimed at the Doctor, his grip steady and unwavering.

"Who is he, Jack?" THe Welshman asked, motioning to the Time Lord with a flick of his wrist. Upon hearing a new voice, the Doctor spun around to face Ianto, his own hand reaching inside of his billowing jacket and withdrawing something from an interior pocket and pointed it at the opposing man with steel equal to Ianto's. A look of concern flashing across Ianto's features and the small gasp emitted from Martha is enough reason for Jack to adjust his position so that he can see exactly what is in the Doctor's grip.

No

This, _this, _is too much. The Immortal almost refuses to believe it but...he can't. He can be hopeful, but he refuses to let that emotion rule him to the point of stupidity. So instead, he swallows the hard lump in his throat and accepts the impossible scene in front of him.

A gun.

The Doctor, the man of peace, of second chances, of mercy, the man who at one time would refuse to touch such a thing even if the fate of the world depended on him using one, was holding a gun, aimed directly at Ianto, entirely calm, his breathing perfectly even.

"Wh- What the hell?!" Jack sputtered, completely thrown by this new development.

"Doctor?" Martha asked, her voice, rather remarkably, only slighty higher in pitch than normal.

"Put the gun down, Doc!" Jack commanded, a little angry, mostly disturbed. The Doctor gave no response to signify that he'd heard the Immortal.

"Not until he does." The Time Lord replied, not moving his gaze from Ianto for even a fraction of a second. Ianto glanced over at Jack, clearly confused.

"Both of you, put your guns _down." _Jack said.

Ianto cautiously lowered his gun first, placing it slowly back into his holster. After a moment, the Doctor gave an almost unpercievable nod and lowered his own, putting it back inside of his coat.

Only then, as the Doctor was replacing his weapon back into its original location, did Jack allow himself to actually study exactly what the Doctor had been holding moments before.

It was a revolver. A .44 if Jack wasn't mistaken- Which he rarely was concerning these types of things. It looked close to the same model as Jack's own favored weapon, accurate and technical.

And terrifying.

Absolutely terrifying to see in the Doctor's hands.

Jack knew that his friend had changed. That much was painfully clear, but Jack hadn't know that the Time Lord had changed _that much. _From the pacifist of the universe, to the man who would readily arm himself with a gun.

There was an uneasy rustling noise which was just enough to distract Jack, causing him to instead glance at an obviously confused Martha.

"No, wait," She started. "I'm sorry, but- What the _hell_ just happened?" The medical doctor asked, motioning rather grandly to Ianto and the Doctor, almost glaring at the Time Lord in question. "Doctor, what was that thing you just pulled?"

The Doctor glanced at Martha, not seeming to be particularly concerned with the question.

"He was threatening me." He replied calmly.

"And so you _point a gun at him?!" _Martha replied, disbelieving. "Since when is violence an option with you?!"

At around this time, Jack decided that it would be for the better if he were to interrupt the conversation to have it avoid going, very easily, into very bad places.

"Actually, Martha," He started before the Doctor could reply. "All of us shutting up right now _might_ be the best option." He declared. Ianto complied, silently raising his hand.

"What?" Jack asked shortly. Ianto pointed to the Doctor.

"Can I ask who he is?"

Jack's gaze flashed to the Doctor and then back to Ianto, opening his mouth to respond.

"I'm the Doctor." The Time Lord said before Jack had the chance.

"He's fine to be here." Jack said. "Remember Davros? He's the one who helped to stop him." He turned to the Doctor. "We need to talk." He said, voice low. The Doctor scoffed.

"What about? So what, I've changed some? First off, there's nothing you can do about it. Second, it's not as if it's the end of the bloody universe!" He exclaimed.

"It might be, actually!" Jack exclaimed, tone equal to that of the man in front of him. Neither said anything for a moment.

"...I've still no idea what's going on here." Ianto pointed out helpfully, voice carefully light.

"I'd like to know what's happening too." Said Martha, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Basically, I'm stuck here." The Doctor supplied. "And for _some reason," _He glared at Jack. "The TARDIS won't let me in, so I can't leave."

"I already told you that Torchwood had nothing to do with what's happening here." Jack defended. At this, the Doctor muttered something under his breath, which Jack, rather wisely, didn't ask him to repeat.

"Either way. Until the TARDIS decides to open up, he's staying here." Jack finished.

"...Okay." Martha said, following the flow of things more clearly now. "So that's cleared up. Sort of. A bit. I still want to know what that stunt was though, Doctor."

"What about it?!" The Doctor asked, bristling. "I'm not allowed to have a gun?! Is that it?!"

Martha's eyebrows knit together. This...situation, was getting more and more confusing the longer it went on. In the year that she'd travelled with the Doctor, she had never seen him act like this. The possibility of this type of behavior from him seemed a foreign concept; The gun, the flaring temper, the way he was snapping, it just didn't make sense.

"It's- It's just that I never thought that I would see you with one." Martha said, each word chosen carefully.

"Yeah, well, neither did I." Said the Doctor in response. "And then four years happened, I stopped caring, and this came about."

In one sentence, the Doctor had basically just told Martha most of what Jack didn't want her to know.

Well, shit.

"I'm sorry?" Martha asked.

Jack stepped in between her and the Doctor.

"Martha, how about we go up to my office for-" He struggled to find the word. "Tea. A nice cup of tea where I can explain things and England doesn't fall in the process."

Martha bit her lip nervously but nodded anyways.

Good." Said Jack. "Ianto. Just-...Make sure that the Doctor doesn't blow up the Hub. Okay? Try to avoid shooting each other."

Ianto swallowed and nodded.

"Right. Go ahead and talk. I'll just...take care of some stuff down here."

"Thanks." Jack said, turning away and starting towards the stairs that led to the balcony. "Come on then, Martha." He beckoned, his voice coaxing her to come with him. Martha nodded slightly and followed the Captain up the stairs. She shot once less glance at Ianto and the Doctor before stepping into Jack's office and closing the door.

The Doctor took a few steps towards Toshiko's desk and plopped down in the chair. Ianto looked at the alien; From the way Jack had spoke about him, he'd expected something...something else. Jack had said that the Doctor was the last of the incredibly powerful race of Time Lords, that he travelled through time and space while saving civilizations and rescuing other worlds. He'd expected somebody, or maybe something, some type of bold, intimidating, creature. He'd been expecting a majestic, impossible, quite possibly magical, alien. Instead, the person in front of him was thin, alarmingly blood stained, and from Jack's reactions, not the same man he'd once been.

Ianto had met the Doctor once before. Granted the encounter had been on a screen, and for mere minutes, but they'd still talked. The Welshman made his way over to the Doctor as casually as he could manage. Apparently the Doctor noticed this, as he looked up at Ianto.

"What?" He asked, clearly unhappy with his predicament. Ianto shrugged slightly.

"...Would you like some tea?" He asked, automatically saying the first appriate thing that came to mind when he was unsure of what to say. The Doctor chuckled at this, a rough laugh, like this was the first time, in a long time, that he'd had that type of reaction. Ianto arched an eyebrow

"You're offering me _tea." _The Doctor said, disbelieving. "I waltz into Torchwood, _point a gun at your head_, and you're offering me _tea." _He shook his head. "_Humans."_

Pause.

"I'll take that as a no then." Ianto eventually replied. The Doctor leaned back in his chair, further confirming Ianto's thoughts. Suddenly the Time Lord glanced at Ianto, eyes clouded and unclear.

"So, Ianto Jones, tell me what's happened to the Earth since I've abandoned it."

* * *

**And there would be the first installment of the story. So far I have six chapters written and am working on the seventh. I'm thinking that this will be updated once a week or so. In other news, why don't you leave a review? Tell me what you thought, leave some ideas, anything! All in all, leave a review if you so wish, and even if you don't, thanks for reading, have a fantastic day, and DFTBA!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The second chapter, as promised. Go forth and enjoy! Disclaimer- See disclaimers on previous stories if you want a good one.*hinthint***

* * *

_In Which Owen Is His Usual Self, Ianto Gets the Low-Down, And the Doctor Explains the Blood On His Suit_

**~oOo~**

Martha closed the door with more force than necessary and whirled around to face Jack who was standing by his desk, running a hand through his hair.

"Okay, what's going on here?" She asked impatiently.

"I- I haven't been able to get much out of him," There was no question as to who _him_ was referring to. "But I do know that for him, it's been four years since Donna left and-" Jack found this part difficult to say. "And basically he's- He's stopped helping people. Pretty much given up on the universe for the rest of his life as far as I can tell." Jack explained.

"He had a _gun." _Martha pointed out. "What's- What's the Doctor doing with a gun?!"

"I really don't even know at this point." Jack admitted. "It's like-...To me, this might as well be some fucked up regeneration of the Doctor. I don't feel like I know him at all any more, Martha."

"Do you have any idea why he's here?" Martha asked, trying to process all of this new information. The Doctor, her friend, had tuned into the person she'd seen outside? When? How? It didn't even feel right to think of him as the Doctor anymore. The old Doctor, the _proper_ Doctor, wasn't the one outside. The man outside right was a ghost of him. A shadow. A shell, the essence of what made him the Doctor gone, somewhere maybe, but most certainly not here.

"No." Jack answered, yanking Martha away from her musings. "But..."

"But what?" Martha demanded to know, desperate for any information as to what was happening.

"I've got an idea or two."

"Well spit them out, would you?

"I think..." Jack shifted his weight from side to side "I think that the TARDIS brought him here on purpose. And now she's intentionally not letting him back in."

"Yeah, but why would she do that?" Martha asked.

"I think that she wants for him to stay here." Jack carefully proposed. "I'm not going to pretend like I know what's going on, but I think that's it. She want him to stay and...You know."

"Get to the point where he's not brandishing a gun at anybody who looks at him funny?" Martha filled in. Jack swallowed hard at this and gave a slight nod, not liking the way that Martha had worded that, but not arguing with it either.

"Yeah." He agreed.

Silence, as the both of them considered their situation.

"Well." Said Martha.

"Well." Jack repeated. Martha glanced around before speaking.

"We've certainly got our work cut out for us."

**oOo**

Owen Harper stepped into the Hub, letting the large door behind him roll shut almost soundlessly despite its massive size. He took four and a half steps in, then stopped dead in his tracks. A large 1960's police box was staring him right in the face. When had this shown up? He'd been gone from the Hub for not even ten hours, and yet somehow they'd acquired, of all things, a police telephone box. His first idea was Jack. His tendency to get here at un-godly hours, paired with his love of older things, take his beloved World War Two coat for instance, made him a prime suspect.

"Jack," Owen called, a bit more than exasperated. "What the _hell_ is there a police box in the Hub?!"

No answer.

Sighing, Owen started towards his desk, dropping his bag where he usually did, taking note of the voice he heard over at Toshiko's desk.

"-And then we locked them up."

Ianto's voice, Owen recognized.

"Mmm." Said somebody else, somebody that Owen didn't know.

With his usual tact for social situations, Owen stepped around his desk and over to Toshiko's, intruding on the conversation but not really caring. His gaze settled on an unfamiliar man positioned in front of him, sprawled out on Tosh's chair. The skinny man eyed him suspiciously.

"What do you want?" He asked, voice flat. Owen snorted at this.

"Hell of a way to start off a conversation, mate." He chastised. "There's a lot I want actually, but at the top of my list right now? I want to know why there's a police box here, and, now,who you are."

"I'm the Doctor, that's my police box. It's staying here. Deal." The Doctor replied shortly. Owen arched an eyebrow.

"...Alright then." He turned to Ianto. "Where's Jack at?" He questioned.

"Up in his office, talking with Martha. He probably doesn't want to be interrupted right not, actually."

"...Okay...I'll just...File some Rift reports or something." Owen said, sounding unsure of the situation.

"Good idea." Ianto confirmed. Owen hesitated a second more, then turned away, walking over to the medlab to work on his reports.

The Doctor, the Doctor...He'd heard that name before, he was sure of it. Yes, there was Jack, who never failed to mention him any less than twice a week, but there had been some other time. The Daleks. That's it. When the Daleks had come, he'd talked to the Doctor over a screen for a short time.

He had seemed different back then though. Lighter, taking more joy in life, in a better temperament and mood in general.

Owen arrived at his destination and grabbed a stack of papers to start in on.

Jack had better explain just what the hell was going on here later.

**oOo**

The door to Jack's office opened and Martha stepped out, followed by Jack.

"Ianto!" The Captain called, interrupting the, well, probably not _conversation_, but the _talk_ that the Welshman and the Doctor had been sharing.

Both men turned around to face Jack, the Time Lod spinning around in his chair to do so.

"Could you come up here?" Jack requested. Ianto nodded shortly and began towards the staircase as the Doctor gave a scoff."You don't need to discuss anything up there." He said, voice incredulous. "I already know what you're going to be talking about."

"Come on, Ianto." Jack said, voice slightly softer this time around, eyeing the Doctor carefully. Ianto climbed the stairs and joined both Jack and Martha at the balcony.

As the trio whispered where they stood, the Doctor turned his attention to the computer by his side. It was entirely possible that he had missed something during his earlier search. Not likely, but possible.

It still didn't make sense though, he thought, logging into the computer and sorting through the files, trying to find something. The TARDIS _knew_ that he didn't help people anymore, that he hadn't done that in a long time. Granted, that didn't stop her from bringing him to places in need of his help, but she had _never_ refused to let him in. He clenched his fist. What was going on?

He continued to scan through the files, finding nothing whatsoever. So the TARDIS brought him here for nothing it appeared, and still refused to let him leave. Which, as far as the Doctor was concerned, left one reason that he could think of.

Jack's theory.

It was stupid. A stupid, ridiculous idea, but it was the only thing that he could think of. But why would the TARDIS bring him here? To _spend time with Jack?!_

It just didn't make sense.

He kept searching.

**oOo**

"You think that's why he's here?" Ianto asked, trying to absorb all the information that Jack had just dumped onto him.

"It's the only thing that we can come up with." Martha confirmed.

"...So what are we going to do?"

Silence.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." Martha declared. Jack glanced at her.

"...Alright then."

Martha flashed a half hearted grin.

"Wish me luck." She said, walking down the stairs.

She looked around, trying to locate her friend. After a moment she saw him, leaning towards a computer screen, typing furiously. That part of him hadn't changed at least. Martha made her way over to him, stopping once she was behind the chair he sat in.

"...What're you up to, Doctor?" She asked, doing her best to sound casual.

No response.

"Doctor?"

"Finding out why the TARDIS brought me here, and trying to figure out a way to leave, Miss Jones." The Time Lord snapped.

Okay then. That hadn't went quite as she'd expected. She would work with it though.

"Find anything yet?" She asked.

"No." The Doctor replied shortly.

"Think you're going to find anything?"

"Probably not." The Doctor answered, exasperated. "Now if you could just go off somewhere else-"

"Why did you have the gun?"

The Doctor stopped speaking mid sentence and spun around to face Martha.

"You are just absolutely bloody _fixated_ on that gun, aren't you?"

"I just want some answers." Martha replied steadily.

"I have it to protect myself." The Doctor responded, clearly giving up on his search for disturbances in the Rift's activities.

Pause.

"Have you ever used it?" Martha asked after a moment, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Yes." The Doctor replied, no hesitation in his voice.

She really shouldn't have been surprised, what with the deadly calm he had retained while threatening Ianto. And she wasn't surprised, not really. Rather she was leaning more towards disappointed, angry. Yeah. Anger was definitely present right now.

"What for?"

The Doctor snorted at this, in a manner that quite clearly said _'Really?'._

"For _shooting people maybe?"_

"Why-" Martha cleared her throat some, starting over. "Can I ask why you've..." She trailed off, unable to formulate the next words in the context of the situation. "You know."

"People threatened me. Tried to hurt me. Got in my way." The Time Lord replied casually and with shrug of his shoulders.

"Have you...Killed anybody?"

The Doctor nodded silently.

Martha let out a silent breath.

Right. This was...extremely not good. At all. She had gathered that much bout the situation before, both from wat she had seen and her conversation with Jack and Ianto, but this, it took the whole not-goodness of the entire thing to a different, completely unprecedented level.

And if Martha was entirely honest, she wasn't quite sure what to do about this.

Rather conveniently, as Martha was busy being disbelieving and a bit shocked, Jack sauntered down the stairs, saving her from having to speak anymore, at least for the moment.

"So, Doc," Jack started loudly, ignoring the Doctor's dislike of his nickname. "Why don't you answer that question of mine?"

The Doctor scowled and stood up, turning to face the Ex-Time Agent who was now standing directly in front of him.

"Which question, Harkness?" He asked bitterly. Jack motioned to the Doctor's torso.

"The one about your suit, Doc." He said, voice lowering, revealing the full gravity of his inquiry. "And why it is like it is."

"I got in a fight. And stuff happened. Is that acceptable?!"

Jack ignored the last part of what the Doctor had said and continued.

"What was the fight about?"

"The guy attacked me, I fought back."

"Yeah, but why did the guy attack you in the first place."

The Time Lord began clenching and unclenching his fist, conscious of his actions or not.

"I-" He broke off, screwing his eyes shut. "Could have been anything." He said, his voice under control. Calm. "He might have heard of me, or something I did that he didn't agree with. I could have done something to him, or to somebody he knew. In the past or the future" He stopped without warning. "Oh, bloody hell, I don't know what I did, or when I did it! It's a a bit wibbly-wobbely- No! Don't say that!" He snapped. At who, it was unclear. "...It's all a bit confusing."

Damn right it was. Jack furrowed his eyebrows slightly, trying to put the pieces of this rather complex puzzle together. It was entirely possible that the Doctor didn't know why the other man had attacked him, and Jack was actually compelled to believe him. Not out of sentiment, but because of the fact that, so far, the Time Lord had been strikingly honest with the questions that he had answered, seemingly not caring about Jack's reaction to anything he said.

What was Jack supposed to make from that last part though? The Doctor _loved_ using technobabble to explain, well, explain was too strong a word, but to describe whatever it was that he was talking about. It was a staple part of his personality. Jack didn't actually believe it possible to take that away from him. And 'wibbly-wobbely, timey-wimey stuff' had always been one of his favorite phases to use. So why the sudden aversion to it-

Oh.

It was a link to his past. That phase, it had been used explicitly by this regeneration, but before Donna had left. It reminded him too much of himself, of what he used to be, of what he had done, and of just how much he had changed.

Of course he wouldn't use it now.

"...Alright then."

It wasn't alright though, a part of Jack reminded him. The Captain tried to ignore it. He knew that, after all, and dealing with this entire mess was his priority.

"Are you alright?" He asked, glancing the Doctor over again.

"I'm fine." The Time Lord replied.

Jesus Christ, even now he was shit at lying, to anybody, about anything. Another thing Jack ignored in this moment.

"What about the other guy?"

"Not quite as fine as I am." The Doctor said, rather absent-mindedly. A shiver ran down Jack's spine and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise. Not as fine as the Doctor. Hell, that could mean any number of things.

"How not fine is he, exactly." Jack dared to venture.

The Doctor shrugged slightly.

"Probably some broken ribs. Maybe arm. Ankle. When somebody pulled me off of him he'd been unconscious for a few minutes.

"Shit..." Jack breathed. He cleared his throat a bit. "Um...Right."

"He _was_ pretty dead set on killing me, mind you." The Doctor half heartedly defended.

"That's-" Jack broke of, recognizing that there was nothing he could really do about what had happened at the moment. He let out a breath. "How not fine are you?"

"I'm completely alright, Harkness." The Time Lord growled.

Another thing about the Doctor that hadn't changed, Jack thought. The man still would not accept help, even when he needed it. Especially when he needed it.

"Whatever you say, Doc." Jack said, backing off some for the time being. "You look dead tired though." He carefully pointed out.

If you were able to look past the Time Lord's blood soaked suit, and the disturbingly dark look in his eyes, it was strikingly obvious just how the Doctor was; The bags under his eyes, his sagging posture.

How long had he been going for?

"I said, I'm fine"

"And _I _say that you can stop pretending, Doctor." Jack retorted, matching the Doctor's tone. The Doctor drew his eyebrows together at this, opening his mouth, undoubtedly to give a scathing response.

And then, the unexpected happened.

Or maybe it wasn't so unexpected.

Either way, a look of confusion flashed across the Doctor's face, he closed his mouth, and collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

And at about this time, Captain Jack Harkness decided to aptly sum up the collective thoughts of everybody who stood in the room.

_"Fuck."_

* * *

**And there we are. Hope you liked that. In the next chapter some stuff really starts to happen, so stick around! Also, I'm not the type of person who demands a certain amount of reviews before they post another chapter, but it would be nice to get some feedback with what you think about the story so far. So leave a review if you want. In other news, thanks for reading, have a brilliant day, and DFTBA!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the late chapter, the last few days haven't been overly good to me. Also, I will be changing update days to Saturdays or Sundays. Just so you guys know. Enjoy! Disclaimer- Has anybody ever taken the time to think abot what might happen if a fanfic author actually got the rights somehow? It would be terrifying.**

* * *

_In Which Jack has the Doctors's Clothes, Toshiko bears bad news, and agreements are broken._

**~oOo~**

Owen straightened himself from leaning over the Doctor, who lie on his medical examination table, stretching himself out and standing at his full height.

"And?" Asked Jack, standing on the stairway that led down to the medlab, leaning on the guard rails that were installed there. Owen glanced from the Doctor's bare torso, then back to Jack.

"He's done a number on himself, that's for sure." Owen replied, with the air that only a doctor who had practiced for years and seen many injuries could muster.

"Yeah, no shit. I sort of figured that." Jack retorted.

Owen sighed.

"What do you want to know, Jack."

"I want to know what the hell happened to him."

"I can't tell much about his internals, mainly because I've never seen anything like his biology before. Confusing as hell, but absolutely _fascinating._ " Owen caught the glare that Jack was fixing him with and cleared his throat before continuing. "But externally? Not too much actually. Couple of cracked ribs at most. That's about it. Nothing life threatening."

Jock scowled but held his tongue.

"Why did he pass out? Do you know?"

Owen shrugged slightly.

"You might want to ask your-" He hesitated a moment. _"Friend,_ how much sleep he's been getting."

"Really? You think so?" Asked Toshiko, who had, alongside Gwen, arrived just a half an hour ago, amongst all the chaos.

"Yeah. Far as I can tell, anyways. I think he's just exhausted."

"That _idiot." _Jack growled. No matter how much he thought that the Time Lord had changed, there were still some constants.

His love for technobabble.

The way he still lied through his teeth about always being fine.

And the way that, even after all this time, the stupid git absolutely refused to take care of himself.

"Also..." Owen cautiously started, only too aware of his bosses growing agitation at the situation.

"What?" Jack snapped, losing his patience one bit at a time.

"I hate to break it to you, but he looks bloody starved. Anybody could see that."

Yup. Somethings never changed.

"Fine. _Fine." _Jack said, rubbing at his eyes some. "We'll just...Do some other stuff for a while. Wait for him to wake up."

"Sounds like a plan." Owen agreed. "An in the mean time, you can explain to me, Gwen, and Tosh, just what the hell is happening."

**oOo**

The Doctor woke with a start, sitting up quickly, but immediately regretting his actions as a sharp pain coursed through his chest, though it soon enough retreated, setting into a dull, but throbbing and persistent ache. Recognizing his surroundings, he swung his legs over the side of the table and stood up, the cold concrete floor making him aware that he no longer had his shoes on. Now more awake than he had been just moments ago, he also discovered that he had been stripped of both his suit top and the shirt he wore underneath that, and his coat alongside that. He searched for a moment, hoping to find them, but to no avail. More than annoyed by this, he started up the stairs, finding himself on the main level of Torchwood.

"Oi!" He called, to nobody in particular, hoping that somebody would hear him.

A cautious Gwen stood up from her desk and looked a the Doctor.

"Oh. You're up then." She noted, watching the Time Lord carefully. Jack's explanation of the situation was enough reason to warrant that, she felt.

"Yeah. Nice observation, that" The Doctor dismissed shortly. "Now, where have you put my clothes?" He questioned.

"Jack wants to see you." Gwen replied, voice steady.

"I bet he does. No chance of that happening though. So you might as well tell me where my bloody clothes are."

"Jack thought you might be like this." Gwen said. "He's got them." She finished simply.

"Of fucking course he does..." The Doctor muttered. He turned away from Gwen and started towards the stairs that led up to Jack's office, climbing them quickly. He pushed the door to the office open and stepped in.

"Give them to me." He demanded, no room in his tone for questions as to what he was talking about. Jack laughed.

"Ah, no." He said, amusement present. "We're going to sit down, and talk, and-"

At this exact, incredibly inconvenient moment in time, the Torchwood Rift alarm decided to sound, ringing rapidly throughout the entire establishment. Jack gave a disbelieving stare to the Doctor, and swore loudly as the Time Lord smirked. The Doctor leaned forwards, placing both hands on Jack's desk, studying the Immortal.

"So, Harkness. Where are my clothes?"

Jack clenched his jaw, considering his options. He couldn't very well just leave the Doctor alone in the Hub. God knew what might happen then. And the elimination of that left only one viable option.

"Your stuff is on my bed." Said Jack, standing up and motioning towards the bed that he occasionally used, which did indeed have the Doctor's clothes upon it. The Doctor gave a lopsided smile and walked over to Jack's bed, taking his shirt and suit top off of it and putting them on, shrugging his trench coat on over his shoulders as well. He then glanced over at Jack who was busying himself by puting on his own World War Two coat on as well. The Ex-Time Agent looked over at the Doctor.

"You're coming with us." He stated. "I don't trust you here by yourself."

The Doctor shrugged.

"I wouldn't trust myself here either." He agreed.

"But you are _not_ to get involved." Jack all but snarled. The Doctor scoffed.

"I wasn't planning to in the first place, Harkness." He replied, voice steely.

"And by getting involved, I mean that you don't so much as _breathe_ on the thing we're going to be tracking down."

"Fine."

"You don't talk to it, you don't poke at it-"

_"Fine."_

Jack studied the Doctor for half a moment more, then dashed out of his office, leaning over the guard rail, and looking down on the level below.

"Toshiko!" He called. "Have you got a fix on where the signal's coming from?!" He asked.

"Outer Southeast Cardiff!" Tosh responded, glancing at her computer screen. "And from these energy readings, it looks like Weevils!"

Jack swore under his breath and began racing down the stairs, the Doctor not far behind him.

After just a few moments of quickly grabbing the needed precautions, the rest of the Torchwood team clambered into their van. Jack started up the engine and pulled the vehicle out into the streets, wheels screeching.

There were Weevils to catch.

**oOo**

"Take this left!" Toshiko instructed. Jack yanked the steering wheel left and onto the rough dirt road, that was empty. Of course. He continued racing down said road at nearly breakneck speeds.

"They should be coming up in about a hundred meters!'

Mere seconds later the vehicle screeched to a halt, and Jack and his team leaped out of the doors with practiced ease. Ianto raced to the side of the van only to stop dead in his track.

"Jack?" He called uneasily.

"What?" The Captain asked, eyes trained on the beings before he and Ianto.

"Those...Aren't Weevils." The Welshman pointed out.

"Yeah. I noticed."

"What are they, then?" The voice's owner this time was Doctor, who had somehow snuck u behind Jack while he had been studying the creatures before him.

"Get back in the van, Doctor!' Jack barked.

"Fat chance. You see, now you've went and got me interested. And I'm staying put right. Where. I. Am."

"Jesus Christ..." Jack muttered, taking a closer look at the aliens. Ianto was right. These things were not Weevils. What they actually were though, escaped Jack.

There were three of them, all standing close together, and examining the five humans (and deceivingly human-like Time Lord) with the same intensity that they themselves were being scrutinized with. They were humanoid in shape. with deep purple skin and jet black hair that reached to their shoulders. They were tall, at least six feet, with almost elvish features; narrow yellow eyes, high bridged noses, and thin faces. They were clad in dark blue robes.

Jack took a careful step towards the three, holding his hands up to show that he was not armed.

"...Hello?" He asked cautiously. The tallest of the three aliens began walking towards Jack, who stopped moving at once, standing stalk still. He turned his head back to face the Doctor.

"You've never seen them before?" He asked.

"Nope." The Doctor replied, hands in his pockets. Jack grumbled some and turned back to face the alien that was still advancing towards him. Jack took a few uncomfortable steps backwards.

"Right...Why don't you stop walking? That would be good. So, if you could stop, we could tak about this, right? We can help you get back home if you want."

The purple skinned alien continued to come towards Jack, and reached inside of his robes and extracted a matte silver object that was shaped suspiciously like a 'L'.

Or a gun.

Matter of opinion, really.

Jack's eyes widened in alarm, gaze drawn on the weapon that had just been drawn against him.

"Woah, woah." He said, clearly startled, taken aback even. "Put that down. W'e're not going to hurt you."

The alien stopped walking, all of ten feet away from Jack. He stopped walking and trained the weapon on Jack's head, finger tightening on wat appeared to be a trigger.

"Put your gun down!" Jack all but shouted. The finger continued to tighten until-

"Oh, for fuck's sake..."

_Bang!_

Jack flinched, expecting to be hit by a bullet, or whatever it was that these things used, but watched in surprise as the alien crumpled, falling to the ground underneath him, red blood pooling around him.

The Immortal spun around in shock, open mouthed. He switched his gaze around frantically, glancing at each of his equally stunned team, before settling on the only person wh was daring to move.

The Doctor, shoving what was undoubtedly his revolver back into his coat pocket.

The Time Lord looked up, right past Jack and at the other two aliens, saying no words. The two backed up slightly and frantically yanked up their sleeves, revealing a device that was strapped to their wrist. The both of them began punching commands into the devices, obviously panicing. They pressed several more buttons, and just like that, they were gone. Teleported most likely, no trace of them left.

Disappeared.

Jack spun back around, emotions a mess, and stared at the Time Lord met his gaze, steady and cold. Completely removed from what he'd just done.

The Doctor waked forwards, shoving past Jack as he did so. He stopped when he reached the purples alien's body. He tapped its torso with his foot, efectovely turning the body onto its back. He pressed the alien's chest with his foot one more time, putting most of his weight into it this time around.

Apparently satisfied, he turned around and began walking, stopping directly in front of Jack.

"Done." Was all he said before continuing his walk over to the Torchwood vehicle, leaning against the side of it, staring at the ground and nothing else.

Still slightly stunned, Jack darted over to the alien's body, looking it over. After just a few seconds, he found what he was looking for; one bullet wound, located directly in between it's eyes.

The single flaw in this new species of unidentified alien.

Dead, unidentified alien.

Jack slowly stood up from where he knelt, and fixed his gaze on the Doctor, who was busy wiping the blood off his shoes.

* * *

**And that's that. This chapter was a bit difficult to write emotionally, but the next one was way harder. Actually, every chapter from here on out was hard to write. I think that in creating this story I'm actually killing any capacity for emotions I may have. Anywho, a great big thanks to all you guys who favorited/followed and a double thanks to the person who reviewed. You all just make my day. So, thanks for reading, pretty please with bananas on top leave a review with feedback, ideas, anything at all, have a great day, and DFTBA!**


	4. Chapter 4

**And here would be the third chapter. Sorry bout the delay, life was happening. Enjoy! Disclaimer- Nope. Maybe by next week.**

* * *

_In Which A Beatdown Takes Place, Torchwood Grows Frustrated, and There Is Bribery_

**~oOo~**

Blind with an unfamiliar mix of emotions, Jack stumbled back from the body before him. His face disappeared behind his hands for a moment before he spun around and re-emerged, staring at the Doctor with as much intensity as he can possibly muster.

Jogging, nearly running, wait, scratch that, nearly _sprinting, _Jack made his way over to the Doctor, halting to a stop so suddenly it might have been comical if not for the weight of the entre situation. Without a second thought, Jack grabbed the Doctor by the collar of his coat, clearly taking the Time Lord by surprise, and slams his twig like body into the Torchwood vehicle as hard as he can, not even caring about the any number of possible repercussions his actions could have.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?!" He yells, freely ignoring the fact that he might be losing control of his emotions, his actions, himself, just a bit.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his head where it had made harsh contact with the metal door and scowled, trying half heartedly to shake free of the grip that Jack had on him. Realizing that escape would require more effort than he cared to exert at the moment, the Doctor settled for taking a slightly more defensive stance against Jack instead, before speaking.

"He was going to kill you, Harkness." He said, voice remarkably steady considering his situation. "And I took the necessary precautions to prevent that from happening."

"I can't die!" Jack exclaimed furiously, tightening his hold on the thin wrist underneath the brown coat. "You know that perfectly well! You didn't have to kill him!"

The rage that had been building in Jack starts to boil over; he's going to kill the Doctor. Not just make him regenerate, but properly kill him. From what he's seen, he'd being doing the universe a favor at this point.

He shouldn't be thinking these thoughts about the man who had once been his best friend. He shouldn't be imagining his fist diving into the Time Lord's stomach time and time again, shouldn't be imagining shooting him in cold blood, shouldn't be imaganing the Doctor, laying on the ground, his body slick with warm scarlet liquid, but Jack can't seem to help himself from imagining all these things and more.

"Either way, I'm not your biggest problem right now." The Doctor mentioned airily. The Time Lord's voice snaps Jack out of his blood filled thought, but does nothing to control his anger.

"What?"

"...You really are stupid, aren't you?" The Doctor asked, an incredulous look plastered on his face.

"And how's that?" Jack snarled, putting more weight onto the Doctor as he continued to lean closer until he as mere inches away from his face. The Doctor smirked.

"You'll figure it out...Maybe." He said.

Jack slammed the Doctor into the metal doors yet again, paying no attention to the Time Lord's grimace of pain.

Good.

The bastard deserved it.

"Tell me what I missed!" Jack shouted.

The Doctor gave a crooked smile to this.

"Nope."

And Jack loses control over himself. Every pent up emotion he has is let loose. He brings his arm back, forming a fast, and slams it into the Doctor's face. He pulls it back once more, and hits the Doctor again, and again, and again, hitting every inch of the lanky Time Lord he can reach, ignoring the blood that is now covering his fists, not stopping, even when the Doctor falls to the ground. He follows the other man down, landing on his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs, and continues his onslaught. Jack let up his attack for just a moment, just long enough for the Doctor to inhale a ragged breath, the grabbed the Time Lord's hair and smacked the back of his head against the cement several times before standing up and kicking him in the chest, not caring as he heard cracking that was most probably the Doctors's ribs breaking, enjoying it actually.

Finally, after what feel like an incredibly long time, Jack's kicks ceased and the Doctor curled in on himself, letting out shaky gasps of air as he may on he ground. Jack took a deep breath and let it out, watching the Doctor as he squirmed a bit. He kicked the Time Lord in the chest one more time, with enough force to knock him back several feet, flipping him over onto his back effectively.

Breathing heavily, Jack took a few steps back, turning to face his team, who were looking on with varying levels of shock etched on their features. Jack glanced over to the Doctor; the Time Lord's eyes had slid shut. He was unconscious, bleeding freely from multiple lacerations onto the ground, blood pooling underneath him. He looked back at his team, then stalked over to the vehicle, flinging the door to the back open before walking over to the purple alien and picking it up, carrying it back to the van in both arms and placing it in the back.

Noting that still nobody had said anything to him, Jack turned and faced his team once more.

Martha was looking on with an expression of disgusted terror, probably for both Jack's and the Doctor's actions, and the rest of the Torchwood team was merely staring at their leader, at a complete loss of what to say. Eventually, Gwen took a few steps towards the Time Lord's body, kneeling down next to him, refusing to look at Jack, who stood just feet away.

"...Jesus fucking Christ, Jack..." She muttered, standing up. "Get over here, Ianto!" She called, motioning for the Welshman. Ianto arrived, and assisted Gwen in getting the Doctor's body picked up, grabbing his feet and she grabbed him ny the underarms, and set him in the back of the vehicle with something that at least resembled gentleness.

Jack turned from the scene before him and walked away, circling around the vehicle and stopping on the right side, opening the door and climbing in, closing the door behind him. He set his hands on the steering wheel with more force than needed and gripped it tightly.

He studied the hands before him, covered in the Doctor's ever-so-slightly orange tinted blood. They were shaking, just a bit. It's the adrenaline, Jack presumes.

After a few moments, the rest of Jack's team clambered into the vehicle, entering silently, not a word being spoken.

"There we are, then." Said Jack, pressing the gas pedal and pulling into the street, starting back towards Torchwood.

God only knew what would happen once they got there.

**oOo**

Ianto carried the Doctor in his arms, shooting a quick glance to the medlab table, but finding it to already be occupied by the purple alien. Unsurprising, really. So the Welshman instead started towards the only other bed-like structure in the entirety of Torchwood. Which just happened to reside in the office of the man who had beaten the Doctor unconscious.

Ianto started up the stairs and pushed the door to Jack's office open once he reached it, stepping inside. He made his way around the darkly stained wood desk that was placed closer to the center of the room than not, and found the bed, placing the Doctor on it as softly as he could manage. Once the Time Lord was properly situated and the possibility of him falling off the bed was no longer there, Ianto stepped back and took a good, proper look at the Doctor.

His face was smeared with blood, and a wide variety of bruises had already started to appear, marking their place. Ianto had laid the Doctor on his back, but, even as he watched, the Time Lord slowly, almost haltingly, repositioning himself, forming a protective ball., His breathing was ragged and shallow, something that earlier Ianto had written off to be an after-effect of his beating, sure to disappear within a few minutes. But seeing as how his breathing was still like that...

Ianto wasn't a fool. He had seen what Jack had done. The Doctor's ribs were probably broken, and who knew what injuries he had besides that?

Sighing to himself, the Welshman stepped outside of Jack's office and into the rest of the Hub, walking down the stairs and entered the main level of Torchwood, where a rather heated argument appeared to be taking place between Jack and Martha, while the rest of the team, rather wisely Ianto thought, stood off to the side, watching as Martha slowly but surely corralled Jack into a desk, the Immortal arguing just as fiercely as the young ,medical doctor.

"He shot that alien!" Jack exclaimed.

"You didn't have to hurt him like that!" Said Martha, tone equal to that of Jack's.

"He killed the thing!" The Captain argued through clenched teeth, eyes dangerously bright.

"You damn near killed _him!_"

Jack scoffed.

"Oh, come off it." He turned to Ianto, apparently having noticed that he'd entered the room. "Ianto, help me out here."

Ianto hesitated for a split second before answering.

"You...you did beat him unconscious, Jack..." He said a bit uncertainly.

"...He'll be fine." Jack muttered, doing his best to sound dismissive. He turned to Owen. "Shouldn't you be doing an outopsy, Owen?" He said, not so much a question as it was a hidden command. For once, Owen decided not to mouth off to Jack, and instead nodded.

"Right." He said, starting over to his medlab so that he could begin the autopsy.

Jack turned to Tosh.

"Toshiko, I want you to try and find information on these things. Anything. Go through Torchwood London and Wales, as well as UNIT, along with anything else you think might be useful." He pointed to Gwen. "Gwen, help her."

"What do you want me to do, sir?" Asked Ianto.

"I want you top go down to the archives and search through our files; look for some hard copies." Jack instructed. Martha raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What am I doing, then?" She inquired.

"You're with me."

"And what are you doing?"

Jack too a deep breath and let it out.

"I'm going to be in my office, looking up some files, and waiting for the Doctor to wake up." He said, a certain tone of finality in his voice that left very little room for constructive argument.

"...Alright then." Martha agreed.

"Come on." Said Jack, making for the stairs. "Let's go."

Martha followed the Immortal up the stairs, wondering if this was really the best course of action to take. Having the Doctor and Jack on the same room, that was. It seemed as if, especially after the events that had taken place, that the two might go for each other's throats. Figuratively, in the Doctor's case. Martha doubted that he would be moving around for a couple of hours, at least.

On the other hand, having the two of them in the same room might be useful. It could force them to talk some. God knew they needed to talk. Not just Jack and the Doctor, but Martha herself as well. All of them needed to calm down some and talk about what was happening and how they were going to deal with this entire bloody predicament that they'd gotten themselves into.

Martha stepped into the office and closed the door as Jack flipped the light switch on, shot the Doctor a dark glare, full of an intense mix of mostly unidentifiable emotions, and pulled up his chair, turning on his computer and bringing up a screen full of files. File of which, Martha assumed, were available to only those with top-level clearance.

Martha grabbed a chair that was in the corner of the room and pulled it up to Jack's desk, studying the screen, and watched as Jack typed a flurry of commands into the computer.

**oOo**

Owen took off his gloves, placed them on his metal medical tray, and bounded up the stairs, over to where Toshiko and Gwen were busy working together.

"And I can't find anything." He said, sounding and looking quite exasperated. "Its biology isn't particularly interesting, so there's no identifying traits that we can identify figure out what the damn thing is. How's it going for you two?"

"Bout that same as you, really." Gwen replied. "We've tried just about everything we can think of and haven't found anything yet."

"Blimey..." Owen muttered. "You think it's entirely new?" He questioned.

"Could be." Said Toshiko.

"This'll be fun...New race of aliens, and no data on them." Owen sighed slightly and shoved his hands back into his white coat. "Right then. We'll keep looking, I suppose. We can check back later."

And with that, Owen turned away, walking back over to his medlab.

**oOo**

Martha buried her face into her hands, elbows resting on the desk before her.

"An hour and a half of looking. And still nothing." She groaned. "Face it, Jack. There are no records on these things."

Jack leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his eyes some.

"Probably not." He said, conceding defeat.

A noise sounded from behind the pair; some slight creaking, accompanied by a pained grunt and a string of muttered words in a language that neither Jack nor Martha recognized.

Both of them spun around in their chair, shooting up into a standing position as they did so to face the figure of the Doctor. The Time Lord took a ragged breath, a pained expression painted on his features, and let it out slowly before repeating the process in the same shuddering way. After a moment, his eyes fluttered open, wild and confused and dangerous.

"...Hey, Doctor..." Said Martha, words cautious.

The Doctor slowly pushed himself up, screwing his eyes shut in the process, and then glared at Jack, who remained silent. His face might as well have been carved of stone.

"Rassilon..." The Doctor muttered.

"You deserved it." Said Jack,absolute conviction in his voice. The Doctor gave a small laugh and promptly regretted it, clutching at his chest, gasping for breath.

"You might want to take it easy, Doctor." Martha suggested.

"Yeah. Yeah, that might be a good idea." The Time Lord said, positioning himself upright, planting his feet on the floor below him, but still staying on the bed.

"So it might not be a good idea to do what you're doing." Pressed Martha. The Doctor scowled.

"Im fine." He took a moment to glance at Jack. "I stop you from getting shot and I deserve this?" He asked, disbelieving.

"You kill somebody in cold blood and expect me to just stand there?" Jack questioned heatedly. "And then you withhold information from me?" He asked, voice shaking with anger.

At this time, Martha decided to step in between the two men in an attempt to shut them up so some progress could actually be made.

"Doctor, your gun " She said, holding her hand out and keeping her tone as steady as she could. "Now would be good."

"Like hell." The Doctor replied, clearly amused by Martha's request.

"Give it to her." Jack growled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Or I swear to god, I won't stop when you're unconscious this time."

Martha glanced to her left.

"Jack."

The Immortal have no recognition that Martha had said anything.

The Doctor opened his mouth and then promptly closed it.

"...I'll tell you what you missed." He offered after a few moments. The expression on Jack's face changed from fury to surprise.

Damn.

He was stuck now.

Take the Doctor's gun and miss a possibly vital clue as tl what they were dealing with,or let the Time Lord keep his weapon and receive important information from him.

Jack had to chose the latter, for the safety of his team, and for possibly for the safety of other people, if those things decided to come back. There really was t a choice here/

"Fine." Spat Jack. "You tell us what you know, and I might let you keep your gun."

"You _will_ let me keep it, Harkness." The Doctor pressed.

Jack was silent a moment, weighing his options with care.

"Alright." He eventually agreed. The Doctor smirked some at this, and gradually began to lean back against the wall, don't so slowly as to not further aggravate his injuries, and closed his eyes.

"So, tell us what we missed." Said Jack.

"Their wrists, Harkness." Replied the Doctor. "What did the last two do when they left? They pulled up their sleeves and there was a device in their wrists."

"Yeah, I saw that. What about it?"

The Doctor muttered something, most probably a very insulting something,kinder his breath before repealing once more.

"They _teleported. Teleported._ With _control_ over it. Under their own free will. What does the Rift do?"

"It brings things here through space and time, Doctor. You know that."

"And do the things that come through the Rift have any choice of doing so?"

"No." Jack replied.

"Then _what_ is wrong with this entire picture of these things _teleporting_?"

_Click_

Jack let out a breath as Martha inhaled sharply.

"They...The Rift didn't bring the here." Said Jack. The Doctor nodded with exaggerated slowness, and for once Jack doesn't care that he's being patronized, because this is a breakthrough and he needs to figure out just what the hell is going on.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed together and he took a step towards the Doctor, grabbed at his braces, and shifted his weight between his feet, mind whirling.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" He exclaimed suddenly, trying to fathom how what the Doctor was saying could possibly be true.

Trying to figure out how it couldn't.

"It makes perfect sense." Said the Doctor, a dangerous edge on his quiet voice.

"Buy the Rift alarm went off! We thought they were Weevils! How does that make sense!"

The Time Lord groaned.

"Do I have to explain everything to you?" He asked, clearly contempt. Jack bit his lil some, but held his tongue, and after a few moments the Doctor resumed speaking.

"They're using the Rift. Manipulating it if you will." He said.

"Using the Rift?"

"Yes, Harkness. They're using the Rift to help them come to Earth. Makes infiltrating a planet a bit easier it you've got a rip in time and space with enough energy to tear a hole in the universe running through it."

"That-"

"Makes sense now?" The Doctor suggested.

"Uh, yeah. Starting to." Said Jack.

"That doesn't explain why they looked like Weevils on the software though." Said Martha.

"Martha," The Doctor started, bringing his hands to his face and rubbing at his eyes. "They masked their energy signal. If they've got the technology to take advantage of the Rift like this, then they would be able to mask the type of energy they were giving off."

"Great." Muttered Jack. "Just what we need. Aliens disguised as other aliens."

"At least it's interesting." Said the Doctor.

Jack shot the Time Lord a sharp glare.

"You. Gt up." he commanded. The Doctor raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Well, I'd like to, you see, but-" He started.

"I said get. Up. Thai is going to be hard enough without you mucking about the place." The Captain said, unwavering.

"And what's that supposed to mean? What are you going to do with me?" The Doctor asked, not seeming particularly concerned with the answer to his question. Jack was quiet a minute.

"I'm going to lock you in the Weevil cells. So you'll do as I say, and get up."

The Time Lord snorted slightly.

"I'm hardly just going to do as you say-"

"Do it!" Jack thundered. He pointed an accusatory finger at the Doctor. "You, are a danger to everyone here. And I'm not going to stand for it. I won't place my team in danger, and that's final. Do you understand me?"

"There's a difference between me understanding you and me actually doing what you want me to do." The Doctor pointed out.

Jack reached down towards his hip and withdrew his revolver from its holster, bringing it up and pointing the barrel at the Doctor's head.

"Get up." he demanded.

"Put the damn gun down, Jack!" Martha exclaimed.

The Doctor eyes the gun wearily for a moment.

"...You wouldn't." He said, watching Jack with care.

"I genuinely don't know." The Immortal replied, cocking the gun. "Care to find out?"

Pause.

The Doctor let out a breath.

"Fine." He agreed. Jack placed the revolver back into his pocket as the Doctor gingerly pushed himself off the wall. The Time Lord slowly shifted his full weight to his feet and stood up, still relying heavily on the wall he had his hand firmly planted on to support him.

"Come on, then." Said Jack, motioning towards his office door. The Doctor took his hand off the wall and promptly collapsed, staggering forwards and unintentionally plowing into jack, who clasped his hands onto the Time Lords's shoulders in an attempt to steady him, but instead the force caused his knees to buckle, forcing him to the floor.

Jack quickly caught the Doctor before he had the the time to completely crumple to the floor, grabbing him by the underarms and pulling him back up.

"Nope." He said, getting the Doctor back onto his feet, though the lanky alien was still leaning on him heavily. "That's not happening. Come on, out we go." The Captain said, walking over to the door with the Doctor and pushing it open, stepping outside onto the balcony. He led the Time Lord down the stairs and down to Torchwood's main level, closely followed by Martha, and then down another set of stair that led to the dimly lot hallway of containment cells.

Jack stuck his hand into his coat pocket and took out a ring of keys, picking one out and sticking it into the lock of the cell door at the end of the block. He laughed the door opened and motioned for the Doctor to enter. The Doctor hesitated, then resisted s much as he could when Jack pushed him in some, until the Captain out more power into the push, sending the Doctor sprawling into the barren cell.

Jack gave the Doctor a pitying look as he gasped for breath.

He pulled the door towards himself, slamming it shut. He locked the deadbolt, letting the finite click ring out, followed by the deafening and infinite silence, then turned away from the man who had once saved him from himself, who was now his prisoner. Who was both his oldest friend and newest enemy, and left him in the ever flickering lights.

* * *

**And so ends the chapter. Once again, sorry about the delay. I'll try not to have it happen again. Please leave a review. It only takes a minute and they really do help me become a better writer. If you want something in the story, go ahead and leave it in a review. I'll see what I can do. In other news, thanks for reading, have an amazing day, and DFTBA!**

**\/**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five. You know, in case you hadn't already figured that out. Enjoy! Disclaimer-...I had a really good one. And I've went and forgotten it. Oh well. I don't own Torchwood or Doctor who. What a s****hame.**

* * *

_In Which There Are Dead Ends, The Secrecy Of Torchwood Is Disputed Upon, and Owen Inadvertently Temps Fate_

**~oOo~**

"So, basically, what you're saying is that we're dealing with a completely new race of aliens." Said Owen, sounding entirely annoyed at the situation.

"Yeah." Jack replied.

"That we know _nothing_ about, seeing as how they've never bothered to show up before."

"Yep."

"And now these aliens can apparently manipulate the Rift to turn up whenever they want to."

"Yes."

"And we have no way of knowing whether we're dealing with Weevils or these new things."

"Seems like it."

"_And,_ these things can potentially change their energy signature into pretty much anything we can imagine so that we never know what we're dealing with."

"That's about the size of it." Jack concluded.

"Well that's real helpful." Owen said. "That's bloody _great_, Jack."

The Immortal leaned against Toshiko's desk, looking to his team.

"I know." He said. "Trust me, I know. We need to figure something out here. Anything. " He looked back to Owen. "Owen, the one we've got, it's still got that thing on its wrist, right?" He asked. The medical doctor nodded.

"Ah, yeah. Contraption strapped tp its wrist. Haven't really done anything with it, though."

Jack pushed off the table and started towards the medlab.

"Come on, let's go get that thing off." He said, working his way over to the stairs all the while.

With the exasperated sigh of someone whose been working on the same thing for too many hours straight, Owen followed.

oOo

_thirty-seven minutes later_

Toshiko set the device that Owen and Jack had retrieved on her desk.

"It's dead, Jack." She told the Captain. "Completely dead. Can't get it to turn back on or anything."

"Nothing at all?" Asked Jack.

"Nothing." Toshiko confirmed. "It's off, and, as far as I can tell, it's going to stay off. I think it was connected to his life signals or something like that. Only thing I can come up with right now."

"….Alright then." Said Jack. "Keep working on it. See if we can learn anything about them from it." He said, turning away. The Immortal walked back down to the medlab where Owen continued to pour over medical reports, trying to piece his puzzle together.

"Find anything yet?" He inquired, moving over to the medical doctor, who glanced up from his papers to Jack for a split second.

"No." He replied, exasperated. "Still stuck. Face it. We can't get anymore info on these things unless we get someone up here who really, _really_, knows what they're doing.

"No way." Jack denied immediately. "It's not happening."

Owen out his hands up in surrender.

"Okay….Fine. Just am idea." He said, submitting to what Jack had ruled. "But really, what are we going to do with the Doctor?" He asked, genuinely curious as to what Jack's answer would be."

"I've got him locked up in the holding cells for now." Jack replied, carefully treading around Owen's question.

"Yeah, I got that. But locking him up isn't exactly a long-term solution to our problem, now is it?" Owen asked, though it wasn't a question so much as it was a statement.

Jack let out a breath.

"No, it's not. But it's the best thing I've got right now. We'll figure something else out later." He replied.

Pause.

"I really could use his help though, if he's half as good as you make him sound."

Jack chuckled slightly at this, though without humor.

"He's better than I make him sound, Owen. Way better. But he also killed this person. He might as well have gone mad." He rubbed at his eyes some with the palm of his hands. "I can't just let him out…."

"We can't just keep him in there forever either." Said Owen.

"I know that. Owen!" Jack snapped. "I don't know what the hell to do though!" He exclaimed. Owen studied his boss for a moment and sighed.

"I need to go talk to him, Jack. There's a;ways the chance that he's figured something out. I'll just go down to the Weevil cells and check it out. He might talk some."

Jack snorted some.

"Good luck with that." He muttered.

Owen shot a glare but said nothing in response, instead starting up the stairs and making his way towards the holding cells.

He knew that, most likely, the Doctor wouldn't talk to him. That he would get ignored, or maybe insulted at best. But it was worth a try, he thought. There was always the slightest chance that he would get lucky that there could be a breakthrough.

Owen stepped into the hallway that was lined with cells, walking down the corridor until he reached the end, turning to face the thick glass-like wall in front of him.

The Doctor sat in the far right corner of his cell, head resting against his knees, completely still, save the very slight raising and lowering of his chest and he breathed. He had wrapped his trench coat around himself, throwing the bottom over his knees.

"….What do you want?" The Time Lord, if Owen was remembering correctly, eventually asked. Owen was silent a moment, slightly thrown by the directness of the question.

"Have you figured anything out about those aliens yet?" Owen asked, deciding to adopt the same 'let's get to the point' attitude the Doctor was using.

"….Why?"

"'Cause we have no idea what we're working with." Owen admitted, figuring honestly was his best option at the moment. "And I thought that you might have figured something out by now."

"Because my first priority right now is obviously helping you people." The Doctor said,still not bothering to raise his head as he spoke. "Congratulations, You've figured it out; all I really want to do is help Torchwood do their job while I'm down here." He said, words practically dripping with sarcasm.

Oh well.

At least Owen had tried.

"It's not as if you've got anything better to do with your time right now. I mean, you're sort of stuck down here until Jack says otherwise." Owen pointed out.

"….Fair enough." Said the Doctor.

"Which, to be honest, could be a good long time. He's pretty pissed at the moment."

The Doctor scoffed.

"Yeah, I could tell when he broke my ribs. Even I can't miss a message as clear as that,

Silence.

The Doctor muttered something under his breath, quiet enough that Owen couldn't quite make out what was being said.

"I'm sorry?" He asked.

"It's not like Jack's a saint either." The Doctor repeated, clearer this time around. "He was a con man when I met him. Almost destroyed London for some quick cash. He can't exactly act like he's better than me."

Owen pressed his lips into a thin line.

"I don't exactly agree with what he did..." He said cautiously. "But..." He trailed off. "Oh, bloody hell. Why can't there just be something simple going on? Plasmavores, maybe. Stop some of them and then we can all be on our merry ways, none of this other crap happening."

Neither man said anything for a moment.

"They're going to come back, Owen." The Doctor mentioned after a few seconds. "Those three, they were just scouts. There _will_ be more where they come from."

Owen stared at the Time Lord for a short second.

"And how fucked up is it that that's the most reassuring thing I've heard all day?"

**oOo**

"Are you planning on staying?" Jack asked Martha as the pair half-way conversed by the staircase. Martha nodded.

"I am now." She replied. "I'm not just going to leave you and the rest of your team to deal with this." She reached inside her front pocket and retrieved her mobile. "I've been meaning to call Tom, actually. Let him know what's happening."

"That would be pretty good." Jack agreed, nodding.

"I'll be in your office, Jack." Said Martha, starting up the stairs.

"What are you going to tell him?" Jack called.

"Exactly what's happening." Martha replied.

"You can't just tell him that you're at Torchwood and explain everything that's happening!" Jack sputtered. Martha raised an eyebrow.

"I can too. Do you want my help or not, Jack?" She challenged. Jack hesitated slightly.

"Fine. Tell him what you need to."

Martha nodded.

"Thanks. Do you mind if he stops by?" She asked hopefully.

Jack did in fact mind if Martha's boyfriend stopped by the top-secret government agency that saved Earth at least once a week, but he submitted anyways.

"It's fine, Martha. Just make sure that Tom doesn't go blabbing the location of Torchwood to all his friends."

For what was possibly the first time all day, Martha smiled.

"He can keep a secret, Jack." She assured, amused. "Besides, half od Cardiff already knows where Torchwood is, I don't think he can do all that much damage."

Jack cocked his head to the side indignantly.

"Half of Cardiff does not know where we're at!" He argued hotly.

"Oh, please." Said Martha. "Have you _heard_ the way people shout at you when you're driving down the road?" She asked, a skeptical look written on her features. She shook a fist, acting as what was apparently supposed to be a passerby. "There goes bloody Torchwood again! You! With the coat! Learn how to drive!" Martha laughede and finished climbing the stairs, entering the office and turning her back on Jack, who didn't reply, as he was ar too busy imitating an open-mouthed fish.

**oOo**

Tom's phone rang only twice before he picked up.

_'Hey, Martha'_ He greeted. '_How are you?'_

"I'm good." Martha replied. It wasn't a lie, after all. She herself was fine. It was just the current situation that left something to be desired.

_'That's good.' _Tom said, clearly pleased with Martha's answer. _'You're still in Cardiff, then?'_

"Yeah."

_'Any idea on when you'll be back?'_

"Um...No, actually. The case yesterday was a bust, but some other stuff came up and I'm not sure when I'll be back."

Martha could practically see the confusion written on Tom's face when he spoke.

_'What's happened?'_

There was a pause as Martha struggled to formulate what was happening into a sentence that was at least somewhat coherent.

She promptly discovered that such a sentence did not exist.

"...You remember that guy, the Doctor?" She started carefully.

_'That bloke you traveled with?'_

"Yeah. Him."

_'What about him?' _Asked Tom, voice light. Martha had told him about the Doctor before, and from what he'd heard, the DOctor was a good guy, running around and saving the universe being his main pastime.

"Well, he uh, showed up today."

Martha said rather cautiously.

_'And? Is everything alright?'_ Tom inquired, alarmed by Martha's change of tone.

"...It's...Really hard to explain, actually." Martha responded. "Do you think it would be possible for you to come down?" She asked, a slight edge of anxiousness working its way into her voice.

_'To Cardiff?' _Tom asked incredulously.

"If possible..." Martha said, carefully hopeful.

_'Well what for?' _Tom questioned.

"Like I said, I really don't know when I'll be back." Martha explained. "And as much as nobody here wants to admit it, I think that we could use as much help as we can get right now."

_'...Where are you?'_

"This place called Torchwood."

_'Never heard of it.' _Tom noted.

"Yeah, you wouldn't have." Said Martha.

_'What's that mean?'_

"Nothing. It's just...Not many people know about it."

_'...Right then. I guess I can come down. Where's this place at again?'_

"Bit hard to explain. If you could just get us a place to stay for a while, I'll explain everything later. I promise."

_'...Okay. I'll text you later, alright?'_

"Alright."

_'...Talk to you later. Love you.'_

Despite herself, Martha smiled a bit.

"Love you too, Tom. Bye."

**oOo**

"How are you doing there, Ianto?" Asked Jack, stepping into the Hub's archives and fixing his gaze on the Welshman who was surrounded by piles upon piles of papers.

"Haven't found anything yet." Ianto replied, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Yeah, neither has anyone else. We're pretty positive that we haven't encountered them before now." Jack said, staring at the, admittedly impressive, even for Ianto, stacks of information.

"I see..." Said Ianto, trailing off.

"You hungry at all?" Jack asked abruptly. "I mean, you haven't eaten all day."

"Neither have you." Ianto pointed out. "Or Owen, or Tosh, or Gwen, or Martha, or-" He broke off suddenly, leaving an unspoken _'or the Doctor' _hanging in the air between the two men.

"Right then." Said Jack, not particularly concerned about the Time Lord's current physical status. He knew full well that the Doctor could, and often did, go for days on end without eating.

"Is pizza good with you?" The Immortal asked.

Ianto gave an amused snort.

"Would I still be working here if it wasn't?" He questioned, not expecting a proper answer.

"Pizza it is then." Jack concluded, the slightest of smiles flashing across his face. He whipped his mobile from his coat pocket and flipped it open, punching numbers into the keypad and holding it up to his ear.

_'Hello?'_

The voice from the other end was just barely audible to Ianto, who stood only about five feet from Jack.

"Hello yourself." Jack replied.

_'How can I help you?' _The other person, a girl, Ianto could tell, asked, a sigh in her voice but sounding slightly amused nonetheless.

"I'd like to order a pizza." Jack said.

_'Right. What do you want?'_

"Your number, for one."

_'On your _pizza_.' _The girl pressed.

Jack smiled some and glanced at Ianto unashamedly.

"Pepperoni fine with you?" He inquired. Ianto nodded.

"Pepperoni." Jack said, speaking back into the phone now.

_'Alright. Delivery?'_

"Yup. To Torchwood."

_'Okay. Your pizza will be there soon.'_

"Thanks." Said Jack. He flipped his phone shut and put it back in hos pocket. "Food's on its way." He said.

"And some degree of order has been restored to the universe." Ianto concluded.

**oOo**

_'Of all the places I could have landed,' _Thought the Doctor, _'I had to end up in bloody Torchwood.'_

He shouldn't be here. He should be in the TARDIS, drifting through space. He shouldn't be wounded and stuck in a holding cell like some animal.

He was the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, Last of the Time Lords, former president of Gallifrey, the 'Mighty Warrior'; he was known across the universe, two actually, as the man who brought death and destruction in his wake, irregardless of where he was or whoever happened to stand in his way.

And he was trapped.

He groaned inwardly , reached inside of his coat's pockets, and rummaged around for a few moments. He pulled it out, _it_ being a small cubish shaped contraption, all flashing lights and exposed wires. It was supposed to be used to detect time disturbances; Paradoxes, energy signals that were out of their time, and the like.

But, with some time (which there was a surplus of), and a little bit of time-space mechanical knowledge (also something of which he had considerable reserves), it could be repurposed to detect time-space disturbances.

Like the ones that came from the Rift.

After all, he expected to be down here for quite a while. It wasn't as if he would be given information as to what was happening. This would both give him something to do and let him know if there was anything of interest occurring with the Rift.

The Doctor scowled at the lock on the door to his cell as he took his sonic screwdriver from his pocket.

Deadlock sealed.

Otherwise he would already have been out.

Selecting a setting on his screwdriver, the Doctor eventually found the one he was looking for and started in on his work to what was soon to be a Time-Space Disturbance Detector with a sigh.

He was going to be down here a while.

**oOo**

"So what do we do now?" Asked Gwen, swallowing her bite of pizza, looking expectantly at Jack.

"He said that these things were going to come back." Said Owen, distracting the attention from the Captain. "The Doctor, that is." He mentioned, clarifying. "He said that the ones who came through were just scouts of sorts."

Jack shrugged.

"That may be true. It probably is, actually." He said, nodding slightly. "I was thinking the same thing myself. But we can't exactly do anything about it now. We'll just have to wait until something happens."

Silence.

"Actually, I've got a thing we can do." Owen declared. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting tired of calling these things these...things. Gets sort of redundant after a while, you know?"

"We need to come up with a name for them." Toshiko finished.

"Exactly." Agreed Owen, motioning to Tosh. "We need to come up with a name."

"I've got nothing." Gwen said.

"Neither have I." Jack admitted.

"Don't look at me." Said Martha.

"Nope." Owen said.

Ianto shook his head in negative response.

Owen glanced around the Hub some, leaning back in his chair some.

"We'll think of something." He said after a moment. "We've got plenty of time."

Contemplative looks with various levels of hostility were promptly present on all of Torchwood's faces.

_"Dont."_

* * *

**There we are. I'm actually going to take some time and respond to reviews today. Here we go.**

**Guest- Thanks for the reviews, they encourage me to keep writing this tory.**

**Torchwood Cardiff- Yeah, I couldn't bring it upon myself to have Owen and Toshiko be dead. Love their characters way too much to do that. They had to stay.**

**ImastrawberryIchigo- First. You pen name. Awesome. Second, I already have the end of this story planned out. Yes, the Doctor will get better. It's going to take a while. A very long while, but slowly he'll get better. I promise. And, oh yeah, at the end of this story I'm going to break everybody's hearts. So stay on the look out for that.**

**Everyone- Thanks for reading! On your way out, why not leave a review? Plot ideas, characters, just telling me how you think I'm doing in general, anything! Check in next week, but until then, have a fantastic day, and DFTBA!**


End file.
